‘“They’re a great team and we know they have the firepower, but we stayed within our system and it paid off for us,” said Gaustad, who missed the first nine games of the season because of a thumb injury. “We didn’t run around and we stayed within ourselves. When we do that we’re a strong team and a hard team to play against.”’

‘”I thought the all-around game tonight was probably as good as we played since close to the start of the year,” said Buffalo head coach Lindy Ruff. “I thought our special teams were exceptional, our desperation and competitive edge, our play away from the puck was good.”‘

‘The Sabres tied it up again a little over three minutes into the third when he finished off a play during which Derek Roy found Thomas Vanek, who then passed it along to Stafford. The Buffalo winger swatted it past Curry for his second goal of the night to even the score 3-3. Gaustad connected on his second goal, and the game-winner, at 16:36 of the final frame to put Buffalo up 4-3 when he crashed the net and tipped a Jason Pominville pass between the pads of Curry.’

‘Maxim Afinogenov held the puck for what seemed like a full minute before feeding Drew Stafford on Buffalo’s first goal and similarly appeared to hold the game on his stick all night, his best performance of the season on a day Lindy Ruff considered benching him again.’

‘“The NHL season is going to be an absolute grind from start to finish,” Rivet said Thursday. “There’s no easy games. That’s the difference between 10 years ago, when you could kind of almost take a night off and still win. In today’s game, it’s extremely difficult to win hockey games and very, very easy to lose.”’

‘Brennan made the team and went on to win the Raymond Lagacé Trophy as the QMJHL’s top defenceman in his rookie season after scoring 16 goals and adding 25 assists in 68 games. The NHL Central Scouting Bureau had him as the top-rated defenceman heading into the 2007 entry draft and the Buffalo Sabres selected him during the second round.’

‘Perhaps the time off did Tallinder some good. He joined the rush several times, including seconds before Derek Roy’s first goal. It was reminiscent of his dash in Atlanta a few Fridays ago that resulted in Clarke MacArthur’s tap-in goal. Lindy Ruff eased the defenseman back into the lineup with 14:03 of ice time. Partner Teppo Numminen also saw limited time at just under 15 minutes. The coach said after the game it was good to see the smooth-skating Swede get his groove back. (He didn’t say "get his groove back." It would have been cool if he had, though.)’

‘But, as has been the Sabres’ custom this season, there was no easy ending. Phil Kessel scored with 10:35 left, and it was white-knuckle time once again for the crowd of 18,326. But Ryan Miller wasn’t beaten again and finished with 27 saves.’